Thanks Emmett
by TCD
Summary: My entry for the Caught With Your Pants Down Contest. See what happens when Edward finds himself in a less than perfect circumstance, embarrassed in front of the girl he loves. EPOV. Rated T. AU. Fluffy One Shot.


**A/N**: _Hi everyone, here's a one shot I've written a little while ago for the ~Caught With Your Pants Down~ Contest. It didn't win *Crowd goes "aaaaaw"* but that's alright because that's not what I entered the contest for in the first place :P It's just a nice way to get inspiration for one shots ;) And I had a lot of fun writing the story so I just wanted to share it with all of you out there :) I hope you enjoy it and I would love to know your thoughts on the story :) _

_Just one more little side note: Most of the entries for the competition were Rated M but I suck at writing lemons and quite frankly I like Rated T a lot more, since that's also how our beloved Stephenie Meyer wrote it ;) And so, just like all my other stories, this story is Rated T :)_

_Which brings me to another highly important point *ahum*: _

_**DISCLAIMER: Unfortunately I don't own Twilight or any of the characters; I just toy around with them ;)**_

_That was it, promise. Enjoy!_

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Thanks Emmett**

"Bye Edward, I'm going shopping with Bella," Alice unnecessarily called from downstairs. I already knew she had plans with Bella today but tell a girl you like her friend once and she'll never let you forget it. I didn't even mean like in the sense of I want to marry her, I just meant that I think Bella is really nice and a good friend to Alice and that's why I like her.

Bella. She is the most amazing girl I have ever met. She has been Alice's friend for a year now, ever since we moved to Forks. And she has been wonderful! Even when Alice thought it was time to reveal our biggest secret to Bella, she didn't even flinch; she told us that she loved us no matter what we were. A human being as a vampire's best friend, can you imagine that? Alright, it's hard _not_ to be friends with Alice once she's marked you as her victim, my sister is very easy to like and especially very persistent. But still Bella never ceases to amaze me. The only frustrating thing about her is that I can't read her mind like I can everyone else's. The one girl in the world I would like to know the thoughts of and her mind is blocked from mine. The universe can be cruel indeed.

I told Alice I liked Bella only as a friend and Alice didn't buy it like the rest of my family had. She has been harassing me about Bella ever since the one time I let that comment slip. But Alice has been right though. I do like Bella as more than just a friend. But it can never happen. A vampire in love with a human; that's so much worse than one being friends with a human. I could never hurt Bella intentionally but if the two of us were being intimate, accidents could happen. My family and I might not hunt people but it doesn't mean the lure isn't still always there.

But this all would be assuming that Bella wants me too, which I don't. Why would she? I'm nothing special and I'm dangerous. She doesn't often talk to me unless Alice puts us in the same room together on one of her matchmaking adventures. For some reason Bella doesn't talk as easily with me as she does with the rest of my family. I'm guessing that's because she doesn't like me as much as she likes the rest.

Take Emmett for instance; he is much scarier than I am, he is huge and he is very strong, even for a vampire. But somehow Bella jokes around with him as if he truly was her brother. They tease each other easily and sometimes they even get into arguments. I, on the other hand, never get past "How is school?" with Bella.

"Edward? Are you coming or are you staying in your room moping like you always do?" Emmett yelled from downstairs. "Carlisle can't handle us without you. Not that you have a chance against us anyways but still, it would be a little more of a challenge if you did join," he teased.

He decided it was time for another rugby match, me and Carlisle against him and Jasper. The way we usually played it. The girls sometimes joined but today it would just be us guys.

I liked having Carlisle on my side. Jasper was dangerous because he was good at tactics and Emmett was dangerous because he was strong but I always thought Carlisle and I made a better team because we worked well together, we both thought out our actions. I picked the tactics right out of Jasper's head and both Carlisle and I were faster than Emmett, if you add to that the fact that Carlisle plays dirty – dirtier than any of us; we always have a very good shot at winning.

"Or are you daydreaming about Bella again?" Emmett shot at me from downstairs. His comment came paired with some images of me and Bella in rather compromising positions.

I growled in annoyance. I was going to _kill_ Alice for telling Emmett that I liked Bella.

"You're going down!" was all I said when I ran past Emmett into the backyard. Emmett just grinned and started envisioning different ways in which I was going to end in the mud with him sitting on top of me and I just smiled serenely back at my brother. The only thing he was accomplishing now was me knowing most of his tactics before the game already.

Carlisle and Jasper had already laid out the playing field.

"Alright boys listen up," Esme said sternly, acting as our referee. "I don't want to see any foul play, and yes I do mean you Carlisle," Esme shot at her husband teasingly. "Let's keep this fun." She knew just as well as the rest of us that it was useless anyways but you had to give her credit for trying every time we played any type of sport.

Rosalie had settled on just enjoying the game from the sidelines and acting as a second umpire whenever Esme would be in need of one. She sat peacefully in the grass at a safe distance from the playing field, enjoying the sun that so rarely shone here in the wonderful town of Forks.

"Play ball!" Esme called unnecessarily because Emmett had already started running towards our side of the field with the ball safely tucked away under his arm.

Carlisle was the first to make a move towards Emmett. He jumped on his back with so much force that Emmett had no chance. He lost his balance and fell face-first into the dirt, Carlisle proudly parked on his back. After a few insults in my father's direction the game continued. It wasn't long before we were all completely covered in mud, including Esme and a very displeased Rosalie.

"Ah babe, I was just trying to help you with your tan," Emmett told Rosalie after a wave of mud had hit her when Emmett dove into the ground.

I wasn't normally much for company; I was perfectly fine with being on my own. But on days like this where I got to hang out with my family and doing things we all enjoyed I remembered why I loved being with them in the first place.

We played rugby in the backyard for hours and Esme and Rosalie at a certain point had had enough of us harassing them. Esme had had enough of us playing dirty without her being able to actually do something about it and Rosalie had given up the idea of a tan after a few extra mud baths compliments of Emmett. So now it was Rosalie and Esme against us four. However, this did not stop Emmett from sucker punching his own teammates every once in a while.

"Oops, didn't see you there bro," Emmett said as he held up his hand to help me up.

He had once again smacked me into the ground and was pretending it was an accident. His thoughts betrayed him however. He was smug and excited that his plan had worked out. It had been a split second decision, I knew he was going to hit one of the guys but I didn't know who until it was too late. Me being the unfortunate victim.

"That's it Emmett, now you can have it. I'm very sorry for the guys who have to be on your team but I'm crossing over to the other team!" I said mock angrily as I walked towards the girls.

"Any enemy of Emmett's is a friend of ours," Rosalie said contently as she welcomed me into their huddle.

"Fine, walk over to the dark side if you must, but you're still going down," Emmett threatened.

You would think the guys, especially Emmett and Carlisle, would go easy on the girls, seeing as there would be hell to pay for them later if they didn't. But that didn't stop them from getting in a few good pushes and punches.

At a certain point nobody was keeping score anymore and we were just playing for the fun of it. We were just trying to get the other team in the dirt as quickly and as effectively as we could without getting thrown into the dirt ourselves. The backyard was a mess and so were we.

I had just caught the ball and was just about to run towards the other side of the field as quickly as I could when I heard a car stop on the driveway.

_We're home!_ Alice's thoughts hit me before she was even out of the car. "I think they're in the backyard," I heard her tell Bella as they walked into the house.

I stood frozen; the rest of the family must have heard them come in as well because nobody was focusing on the game anymore, Rosalie and Esme were trying to make themselves look a little more presentable whereas Carlisle, Jasper and Emmett just stood there, not caring what they looked like. I was not worried about the game being interrupted either; I just didn't want Bella to see me all covered in mud and dirty.

I was completely focused on Alice's thoughts, I knew she was deliberately observing Bella in her new outfit for my benefit and breathing in her scent so I couldn't focus on anything else anymore. Bella truly was beautiful, even if she couldn't see it herself. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen and no matter how often I saw her or interacted with her, she never stopped taking my breath away. It was strange how someone could change me so completely without even realizing it herself. There was no denying it; I was in love with her. It wasn't rational and it certainly wasn't smart but that was the way it was.

They were almost to the backdoor of our house and I was already anticipating seeing her lovely face through my own eyes. It was strange how the only person whose thoughts I couldn't hear could make my head completely filled with her alone. She drowned out the crowd completely, which was never a smart thing when one was around Emmett…

The moment Alice opened the door to the yard and Bella followed was when I picked up on Emmett's thoughts again. But it was already too late. He pounded on me, ready to push me into the dirt in front of Bella, to humiliate me like that. I tried to step aside but I wasn't fast enough so the small step I was able to take before the impact actually made the humiliation even greater.

Instead of grabbing me around the waist like Emmett had planned, he grabbed me around the legs as he fell to the floor. I was still standing upright but Emmett had held on to my pants so tightly that they came down with him. I was standing there, in my boxers, completely embarrassed, at the exact moment that Bella laid eyes on me.

If I still had blood in my veins I would have been bright red by now. This was not how my parents had raised me! I had never felt this bad in my life. I didn't know what to do. I was ashamed and more than a little afraid of Bella's reaction. She must think I'm such an immature idiot! Playing foolish games with my brothers in the backyard and standing there with my pants down as if I was some sort of child! So instead of waiting to find out what she actually thought of me now, I pulled up my pants quickly, shot an angry glare in Emmett's direction and I ran. I ran faster than I think I had ever done in my life and it still wasn't fast enough for me. I needed to escape the humiliation and the feelings that were flooding me right now.

I was such a fool for letting Emmett catch me off guard! I can't imagine what Bella must think but this certainly has blown any chance I ever had with her for good. I was an embarrassment; showing my underwear in front of the lady of my desires like this.

I hadn't even noticed where I was running to until I reached my meadow. My own peaceful place. I would always come here if I had something to think about or just to get away from my family. It was my sanctuary. I was safe here.

There was a small stream of water nearby and I decided to get cleaned up a bit to clear my head. I wasn't used to having emotions running wild in my body. My life wasn't emotionless; I did love my parents and my siblings a lot and I had fun with them quite often. But I was perfectly content with having steady emotions, even if that meant never being truly happy or being truly sad. But since Bella had gotten into my life, my life seemed to be one big rollercoaster and it was getting hard for me to keep up. I had never felt humiliated before. Sure my family had pulled some pranks on me over the years but that was also true the other way around. And I knew it wasn't rational to be mad at Emmett for embarrassing me like that; it had, after all, not been his intention to take my pants down with him. Although I could tell from his thoughts that he had been quite pleased with the result. But no matter his intentions, he was going to pay for this sooner or later.

_Don't be mad at me!_ Alice's thoughts reached me. _I know this is _your_ place but I still thought you could use someone to talk to._ She let me know softly.

To my surprise I could tell from her thoughts that Alice was leaving. I stared in the direction I knew she had been and instead of Alice walking into my meadow, it was Bella standing at the edge looking rather uncomfortable. Unbelievable how I was missing things today! How could I have missed that Alice had brought Bella with her?

"I'm sorry for disturbing you like this, I hope you don't mind," Bella whispered softly. She blushed a deep red, probably embarrassed for me.

I just stood there, unable to look away from the girl I loved but unable to speak to her at the same time. All I really wanted to do was run away again but Alice had really left and I didn't want to leave Bella here alone.

"Alice brought me; I hope you're not mad. But I saw you were upset and for some reason Alice thought you might want to talk to me. She said you would take me back to your house when you were ready," she continued when I didn't speak. "Are you mad at me?" she questioned softly.

"No!" I said too forcefully, it made Bella flinch. "Sorry, no I'm not mad at you! Of course not!" I said more calmly this time.

"Oh, good." Bella let out a sigh in relief. "Are you very mad at Emmett?" she asked, sounding slightly worried.

Great, now she thought I was a monster who was going to hurt his own brother.

"No I'm not really mad at Emmett. I'm annoyed at him but he didn't do anything other than what can be expected of him," I said trying to joke but my tone was still too bitter for it to come across as sincere.

"Oh, right," Bella muttered. "Are you alright?" She continued to question me and I couldn't quite understand why.

"Uhm, yes I think so. I'm embarrassed and very sorry that you had to witness that!" I told her honestly. "I can't imagine what you must think of me right now, I'm really sorry you had to see that."

"Why are you sorry? I didn't mind," she said while blushing heavily.

I hated not knowing what went on in her head! Why was she blushing and looking away from me as if she was embarrassed?

"What do you mean?" I asked, hoping to get a clearer picture of what she was thinking.

"You said you were sorry I had to see that, I just meant that I didn't really mind seeing that," she said before her cheeks colored an even deeper shade of red.

I lifted my eyebrow at her in confusion. "But it was rude," I argued.

"It wasn't your fault," she contradicted.

"Still, it wasn't appropriate of me and I'm sorry. I should have known better than to stand close to Emmett at any time," I said half smiling.

I could hear her heart beating furiously and I wanted to know what she was thinking. She must be so uncomfortable right now.

"I could take you back to the house if you want," I offered.

"Why would I want that?" she questioned.

"I can't imagine you still want to see me," I replied sadly.

"What are you talking about? Why are you making such a big deal out of this? You're feeling guilty for something you had no control over and you're apologizing for me seeing you in your boxers. It doesn't make any sense." Bella was sounding slightly angry right now, something I hadn't heard from her before. It fascinated me.

"It's just not how I was raised. A gentleman doesn't show his underwear to a lady unless they are married," I stated simply.

"This isn't the 1900s anymore Edward, it's okay to loosen up a little nowadays," she joked and I laughed albeit halfheartedly.

"If you don't want me to take you back, will you at least come sit with me for a little while?" I asked when I noticed she was still uncomfortably standing at the edge of the meadow, hands folded across her chest insecurely.

"Alright," she gave in. She walked towards me slowly and I sat down on the grass, motioning for her to do the same. She complied and sat down across from me, staring me straight in the eyes.

"So you didn't mind seeing me in my boxers huh?" I said teasingly. I felt more relaxed now that Bella was at least willing to stay with me a little while and that she didn't seem to think any less of me because of what happened.

Bella blushed again and it looked cute. She tried to hide her face and I hated not being able to see what went on, so I lifted her head back up softly with one of my fingers. She stared at me for a moment. "You know you look good," she muttered in defeat after a while.

My heart would have been hammering in my chest if it had still been beating but I felt my stomach do a couple of flips and I felt rather dizzy. It was strange the effects this girl had on me.

"You think I look good?" I asked rather surprised.

"Of course!" she blurted out and she quickly put her hand in front of her mouth as if she had said too much.

I just smiled back at her, hoping I seemed serene but this new revelation made me giddy inside. Maybe there was hope for us yet?

"So, you're not mad at me or anything?" I asked one more time, just to change the subject, since it seemed to make Bella feel uncomfortable.

"No, of course not. I can't even believe you thought that. Is that why you ran away?" she asked thoughtfully.

"Yes, I ran away because I was embarrassed because you were there. If it had just been Alice I wouldn't have cared so much. But I didn't want you to think any less of me. I was afraid of what you thought so I just ran to try and clear my head a little," I explained.

"Why do you care?" she asked, sounding genuinely interested and surprised.

"Don't you understand?" I replied.

Had she really not seen how I felt about her? Even if she hadn't seen it from me herself, I'm sure Alice would have brought it up in her all-but-subtle way. She must know by now that I like her as more than just a friend, or rather my sister's friend, because I had no idea whether or not we were friends.

"Don't I understand what?" she questioned, seeming confused.

I guess I might as well lay it out in the open. This might be the only chance I'll ever get at speaking to Bella alone and telling her how I feel about her. If she doesn't return the feelings then at least I'd know and I can move on. And if she wants me to I'll stay away from her. It can't be anything but frightening when a vampire confesses his love to you.

"How I feel about you." I replied hoping it was enough and I wouldn't have to say it out loud. I was again afraid for her reaction and even though I told myself that I could move on if she didn't return the feelings I knew that I was going to be heartbroken and it would probably hurt more than anything I'd ever felt before, more than when Carlisle turned me.

"How do you feel about me?" Bella wasn't going to let me get out of this easily. But she truly seemed clueless, as if my having any feelings for her at all was a big surprise to her.

"I'm in love with you Bella," I blurted out. It was like people always said; you have to rip off a Band-Aid quickly so it'll hurt less. I assumed they were right, since I had no way of knowing, and I thought it would apply to this as well, as long as I said it quickly, get it over with, it would be less difficult.

"You're in love with _me_?" she said incredulously. I just nodded my head slowly. "So Alice hasn't been lying to me?" She still seemed like she couldn't believe it.

"How did you not know?" I asked.

"You never said anything," she accused. "How long has it been?"

"Pretty much from the moment we met," I admitted.

"You should have said something," she said, sounding upset.

"I'm sorry," I replied. "And I understand that you don't feel the same way. If you want me to leave you alone or something I'll understand, I'll take you back to the house and I won't bother you again," I added quickly.

"What?" she asked confused.

"I'll understand if you never want to see me again," I told her sincerely.

"I don't never want to see you again! What makes you say a stupid thing like that?" Bella was really mad now. "You shouldn't just assume things! Maybe you should just ask me first, before you start drawing conclusions for yourself," she said, still a little angry.

"Alright, I'm sorry," I said softly.

"And you don't have to be sorry about everything! In fact, you don't have to be sorry about _anything_!" she responded firmly.

"Okay, I'm… Never mind," I added quickly when I saw her glare. "So, how do you feel about me?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"I'm in love with you too Edward, I have been in love with you from the moment we met and I never dared to get close to you because I never thought you'd like a girl like me. First of all because I'm human and secondly because I'm so ordinary it's not even funny anymore," she told me seriously.

My whole body felt like it was on the verge of breaking down, there was a party going on in my stomach and my heart felt like it was jumping out of my chest. I heard Bella's heart speed up as well and blood was rushing to her cheeks. She looked more beautiful than she had ever done and I wanted nothing more than to be close to her right now.

So that's what I did. I moved closer to her, slowly so she could stop me at any time. But she didn't move; she just sat there looking at me with a loving expression, waiting for me to move. I stopped inches from her body and I looked into her eyes. She was such a wonderful creature and I couldn't believe she had just told me that she was in love with me too! I was the luckiest man on the planet.

I moved my head closer to hers and I stopped right before my lips touched hers. I let her make the decision whether or not she wanted to kiss me. Luckily she did, she moved her head towards mine to close the distance between us completely. Our kiss was sweet at first, soft and careful but it quickly changed to a more urgent and passionate kiss. Her hands found their way up to my hair and my arms had a mind of their own as they were sliding up and down her back, pulling her closer to me. It felt like we were making up for all the time we hadn't spent together, not kissing and not knowing we were in love.

We kissed until she had to break for air. I looked at her expectantly, waiting impatiently for her reaction. She didn't say anything, she just beamed at me and I couldn't have been happier.

"You being human has been the only thing keeping me from you and you are anything _but_ ordinary!" I told her sternly.

She didn't speak; she just crawled in my lap and threw her arms around my neck, hugging herself close to me. She started placing kisses along my cheek and jaw and the electricity from our touch almost drove me insane. It felt great to have her kiss me like that and I wanted nothing more than to stay like this forever when her lips touched mine again finally. I guess a _Thanks Emmett_ was in order.

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A/N**: _Well, I hope you all had as much fun reading the story as I had writing it :) I'll probably be back soon with other stories :) _

_Until next time!_

_Xxx_

_Thari_


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